Including Unilever and Mars
Musk’s X takes unfaithful advertisers to court
06.08.2024, 21:29
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When X was still Twitter, it had twice as many advertisers. After Musk took over the social network, companies fear for their reputation if they advertise there. The rules against hate and incitement are vague. X suspects a conspiracy – and sues.
Elon Musk’s online platform X is taking legal action against major advertisers who are no longer placing ads on the Twitter successor. These include consumer goods giant Unilever and food company Mars.
In the lawsuit, X speaks of a coordinated boycott and a violation of competition law. Dozens of members of an international organization of advertisers colluded to withhold “billions of dollars” from X. The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which was also sued, initially did not respond to the allegations.
The lawsuit escalates a conflict that began with Musk’s takeover of Twitter in October 2022. The tech billionaire describes himself as an advocate of unrestricted freedom of speech. Musk, who himself adheres to the political positions of the American right, relaxed the implementation of Twitter’s rules against the spread of hate speech and misinformation.
Musk declares war on advertisers on X
One consequence of Musk’s takeover was an exodus of large and small advertising customers. He said several times that advertising revenues had roughly halved. The companies are worried about their reputation: hate speech researchers demonstrated how ads from well-known brands can appear next to anti-Semitic posts. X explained the examples as manipulated and not commonplace.
With their initiative, the advertisers want to prevent their ads from ending up next to problematic content. That’s why they only want to advertise on online platforms that adhere to the guidelines. X counters that the association wanted to force the service to implement the requirements with a boycott. They tried to do this peacefully for two years, and now there is war, Musk wrote on X about the lawsuit. He had already attacked renegade advertisers with obscene words months ago – and at the time he had primarily targeted Disney.